Carrie’s posterous

Watch out folks! My brother was out with some buddies last night at The Hunt Club. His group had been drinking a bit that evening and at some point he became heavily intoxicated (like he was drugged). He had been talking to two black women maybe in mid-twenties who he does not recall their name. He managed to leave the bar but then the women followed him and started threatening him and demanded money. Somehow they entered the cab with him and took his keys and his wallet. He was able to get his keys back and thought they were not there when he left the cab. They must have followed him in because he woke up and realized they stole his work laptop, xbox, wallet, Italian coat, Xmas gifts and various smaller items. His bank put a fraud alert on his account after they tried to take money out at a Jewel in Oak Lawn and they tried to rent a movie at RedBox (dumb!!). We don't have many details since he was so messed up. Be careful out there.

Sent from my iPhone

Loading mentions Retweet

I think its really easy to forget all that one has accomplished as we go through our days oh so quickly. It finally took me to today (NYE 2009) to sit down and reflect on the year. I'm almost entering my third decade in life and just now feel that I am really becoming my own person.  A lot of this is due to a few amazing experiences and people in my life. 

So, here goes my 2009 list of things that have helped make this an important year:

Food
Some may call me a 'Foodie' however I despise the word (sounds too snobby to me) but I really just like food a lot. When you really love food you want to learn more about it, experience new dishes, ingredients and try at best to avoid a bad meal. Throughout the year, I have heavily increased the amount of time I spend in the kitchen and I heart it! Cooking is a time for me to de-stress, be creative and have complete control over something.  My husband (Joe) has also played a role in the kitchen with me and its fun to see how we maneuver our small kitchen to make something we can both enjoy.

We have had the amazing opportunity to enjoy fantastic outdoor meals at our local wine shop, Lush, in the summer, welcomed Chef Chris Pandel to our home to cook a fantastic meal for us and our friends (as part of the Swan Creek Farm fundraiser - see previous post), travel to Argentina and eat way too much delicious red meat. In addition, I have had the opportunity to work with some well recognized Chefs and learn from each. My favorite, Chef Michelle Bernstein has taught me a woman can do anything and keep a smile on her face (despite various obstacles).  It has been a fine year of learning more about food and enjoying amazing experiences.

Other notable food mentions: Dinner at Alinea, Dinner with Ted Allen at Moto and the Robert Mondavi team, South Beach Wine and Food Festival, Chicago Gourmet, Various Pig and Goat Roast events (!), Several attempts at pickling and weekly trips to the Farmers Market, Lots of drinking wine at Lush with some fun winemakers and cool staff.

New Friends
I can definitely attribute this to social media, mostly tools like Twitter and also Facebook and LinkedIn. 'Ugh, Carrie, we are so over hearing about Twitter. Its just a place where people post what they are having for dinner. I don't care about that.' I hear this statement too often from those friends and family members that are too resistant to learn what it really does (happily I have converted a few non-believers). I blame celebs like Kim Kardashian and bad Verizon commercials for confusing this amazing tool.  Its really about  building relationships that could never happen IRL (e.g. in real life) without the reach of this medium.

Through the year, I have made friends with extraordinary people, from food writers to restaurant publicists to PR agency peers that showed me that not all PR people fit the ill behaving stereo-type to social media gurus to food fans just like me...ah the list goes on. Thank you all for being my friend.  In the past I have been pretty protective over deciding who I am going to let in and I'm truly happy no matter what shape or form that we have become friends in 2009.

Firsts
Unfortunately, there have been too many occasions this year that I had to deal with some negative people and situations. For a 'Cancer' like me, this can be a bit tough to handle and in the long run really takes a toll on the confidence level. Sure, I am a pretty tough cookie and strong individual but you can only take so much. I will be the first to admit that writing is not my strongest suit. I'd rather grab a drink and chat all night with you then sit in front of this computer and post something that goes out to anyone willing to read. No I don't write in AP style and Yes I could have a stronger vocabulary (and there are probably millions of typos in this post - SORRY!) but ya know what there have been a few people that have appreciated my writing style and given me the opportunity to challenge myself and improve it. They offered an opportunity, encouragement and a new sense of myself.

For starters, Thanks to Rob Gardner for allowing me to guest blog on The Local Beet about my experience reading "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle."  This was the first time that I was like, 'Wow, someone is interested to hear what I have to say and they are willing to offer their platform to do so.' Thanks to Katie and her Enjoy Illinois team for allowing to contribute a few posts (I know there were only a few. Sorry!). And, thanks to Chuck Sudo and the Chicagoist team for accepting me into their crew of really smart, witty writers so I could write about my passions, wine and food.  Ten years ago I would never thought I would be contributing with written words to any online venue other than client emails and proposals.

So, Thank you all for a great year. I'm excited to see what I make out of 2010 and hope it only keeps getting better. Cheers!

Loading mentions Retweet

http://www.supermarketguru.com/index.cfm/go/sg.viewArticle/articleId/853

Thought this was a good 'food for thought' article for both food-lovers like me without kids and parents struggling to get kids to eat whats on their plate. I can't speak from experience yet but I sure hope my kids eat everything off their plate that I make. I think its really important to get kids to eat all types of things especially tons of interesting and delicious veggies and fruits. While one day it will be great for them to enjoy truffles like I do, I don't care for them to go that far that young (geez, how will we afford college with kids who have pricey taste!). Rather, it will be important to keep good variety in the house of natural and fresh foods and less processed, flat tasting foods.

Thoughts?

Do you think kids are born with a taste for unusual foods and variety? Or, is it solely up to the parents to open kids up to have an adventurous palate? Can you force a kid to be 'koodie'?  (ahh, this is quite a nature/nurture question, huh?)

Loading mentions Retweet

I had a great opportunity to hear Peter Shankman (founder of HARO) speak about Social Media yesterday. He discussed some important rules, tools, tips and how he sees social media in the future.

Here are my notes, as I heard it....if you have any more good tidbits to add, feel free to post a comment.

The 4 Social Media Rules

1. Transparency --- This is changing the world
2. Relevance --- How are you relevant to your audience? Do you know how they like to receive their information? Ask them! Don’t tell them how you think they like to receive it.
3. Brevity --- 2.7 seconds or 140 characters is now the average attention span. How do you achieve brevity? Learn how to write. If you can’t write you will be eliminated. People who know how to write get to the point. 
4. Top of Mind / One World Mentality --- In 24 months, everyone you meet will be in your network (your mechanic, your friend, your local business, etc.)
   

The Future
In 2010 Social Media will become ubiquitous. It will be a way of life. 

Tips
Your job is get other people to do PR for you not doing PR for yourself
Your actions will dictate your relevance.
The more touch points you have with someone the higher you rise in each others relevance (Twitter, Facebook, Email, Meetings, etc.)
Through social media, give information that is valuable. The loneliest person on Twitter only talks about themselves

Tools and Tips
Get a Poken if you can find one. A way to store all your social media data and transfer to new contacts. This will make the business card obsolete.
You need to be searching your brand daily, some tools --- Filtrbox, Peoplebrowsr
Good reminder tool — hitmelater.com

Loading mentions Retweet

Sent from my iPhone

Loading mentions Retweet

http://enjoyillinoisblog.com/2009/09/29/chicago-gourmet-rival-national-food-festival-or-local-food-and-drink-festival-star/

Loading mentions Retweet

This past weekend I added another top food experience to, lately, my growing list. Not only did I spend the weekend enjoying small bites and tastes of wine at the Chicago Gourmet festival but I also got a very close encounter with one of the more articulate food geeks of our kind, Ted Allen. Some know Ted from his more recent Food Network roles on "Food Detectives" and "Chopped" and others know him for this witty and insightful food and wine writing and as a culinary judge on "Iron Chef." While he does seem to play an array of roles on TV, in person he is 100% genuine and more conversational and engaging than you may expect of someone with his fame.

So let's backtrack -- how did I get to enjoy an evening with Ted Allen for dinner at Moto with any array of food and wine fans like myself? Simple answer: Robert Mondavi. Long answer: I typically stay up to speed on all things food and wine in the Twitterverse, through local food and wine blogs and traditional food and wine writers. Our local wine writer guru, Bill Daley, posted an a contest announcement from an opportunity to meet Ted, the Robert Mondavi wine ambassador, on The Stew. The rules were simple: Send in a question about wine you would like to ask Ted and you will be entered to win dinner at Moto with him and other VIPs. Seriously, so simple! The entry took less than 10 minutes and I received the great news in less than 48 hours. (My question: Enjoying wine is meant to be fun and social but can have a reputation of sounding too stuffy and strict with so many unfamiliar tasting terms. What do you find is the best way to describe wine so everyone can understand? Are there basics building block words you should know to describe wine? I like to put what I taste into my own words but want to avoid totally missing the mark.)

The evening was more than I could expect, great conversation, great food and perfectly paired wine (even with a dish called "happy face" pictured below -- a raspberry sorbet smiley faced dessert).

I walked-away from the experience feeling:

Full -- there were some crazy inventive dishes and most really delivered, especially loved the pulled pork shoulder wrapped in grape leaves resembling a Cuban cigar. However, the tasting portions were quite large and I could not finish most courses. This is incredibly tough for me since I pride myself on being part of the "clean plate club."

and

Fulfilled -- the company at the table especially the other winners had so many great thoughts about food and wine. Our conversation went from organic wine to the need to pair wine with food (Ted thinks you can drink whatever you like and don't worry about it) or how the local and organic movement is rising (I especially loved that Ted participates in a CSA...me, too! Gosh we have so much in common ;) )

I really appreciate the opportunity to enjoy such a memorable experience and Thank the team at Robert Mondavi that knows exactly what we food and wine fans enjoy and are more than willing to connect with us.

For more insights from the dinner, I recommend checking out the Chicago Bites team's (Bridget and Tammy) take on the evening. They are super cool chicks that know their food and they were lucky winners just like me. Here's their post: http://www.chicagobites.com/2009/09/dining-amongst-celebrities-and.htm

                       

Click here to download:

Ted_Allen_a_dish_called_Happy_.zip (19812 KB)

Loading mentions Retweet

Today my husband, Joe, and I are celebrating our third anniversary of marriage. Its amazing how quickly time has passed from the first time we met to wedding to today. We spend a lot of time together enjoying food and wine and, of course, each others company. Our special occasions always include a special bottle of wine and delicious food.  Last year, we celebrated our anniversary with a trip to Italy where we enjoyed copious amounts of fantastic food and culinary experiences. My favorite day of the trip included a wine tasting and lunch at Castello Della Paneretta, a Tuscan vineyard within in the Chianti Classico region and sits besides the dividing Siena/Florence line. If you follow history as well as current state of affairs among futbol fans, you will know the neighboring towns have a strong dislike for one another.

Here is a link to learn and see more about the Castello Della Paneretta: http://www.paneretta.it/www.paneretta.it/Home_English.html

If you are planning a trip to Florence, I recommend visiting Massimo and Patriza at their beautiful estate. They have a few rooms available for overnight guests and, on our next visit, we would very much like to be their guests.

To celebrate, we will revisit our trip to Italy by opening their Castello Della Paneretta 2003 Quattrocentenario.  The bottle is filled with 100% Sangiovese and has a lovely aromatic fragrance and full, spicy dark fruit taste.  It can stand to age for several more years but we could not wait a bit longer to taste a bit of our Italy trip again. (Plus, my Mom can't understand why I have a case of wine in her basement that I have not opened for year. We thought we would lighten the load by one bottle this year. Thanks for storing our wine, Mom!)

I've included a few photos from our trip to Paneretta. Enjoy! Cin Cin!

             

Click here to download:

On_Wine_Wednesday_Celebrating_.zip (13901 KB)

Loading mentions Retweet

Check out my post on Enjoy Illinois Blog and let me know your favorite cheap eats!

http://enjoyillinoisblog.com/2009/09/10/good-eats-on-a-line-cooks-budget/#more-875

Loading mentions Retweet

This is our last course before dessert from dinner prepared by Chef Chris Pandel. My iPhone died so these photos were waiting on my digital camera to be loaded. At this point in the meal, I was beyond full but fully indulged a bit more and it was worth it. The line-up of goat shoulder, goat ribs, turnips, fingerling potatoes, spicy eggplant, squash and more went over the top.  I'm going to remember this meal for a while. What a fantastic evening to spend with friends on the patio with amazing food and perfectly paired wine.  Also, Chris was a pleasure to have in our home and get to know. His cooking is above many of the big name, big ego chefs out there and he stays very humble.  We can't wait for our next trip to The Bristol to check out the chalkboard and delight our taste buds again. In the meantime, I am going to savor one more element of the meal.  There is a slab of lime semifreddo that is so patiently waiting in the freezer for me. My fridge and I could not be happier with left-overs like this.

             

Click here to download:

More_food_photos_for_food_voye.zip (14040 KB)

Loading mentions Retweet